Deck Tales: Secrets From The Sea. Behind the Scenes Stories from Cruise Ships and Crew Members from Maritime and Sea Life

Ep60: Ravi Chaudhry Last guest of season 3 is veteran merchant navy captain Ravi Chaudhry, whose 34-year seafaring career spanned the transition from celestial navigation to modern GPS-driven shipping. Ravi reflects on joining the merchant navy as a teenager from Punjab with little understanding of life at sea, before rising through the ranks to command massive OBO (oil-bulk-ore) carriers. We delv...

Ep59: Paul Thornton Today I flipped the script on fellow podcaster Paul Thornton—lifelong cruise enthusiast, author of The Joy of Cruising book series, and host of The Joy of Cruising Podcast . Paul shares his unconventional journey from military psychiatric work to corporate finance, entrepreneurship in the video rental boom, and eventually academia—before finding his true passion in cruising and...

Ep58: Tineke Zoet In this episode of Deck Tales , we are joined by maritime workplace coach Tineke Zoet, whose unconventional journey—from Dutch Merchant Navy engineer to human factors specialist and coach—offers a powerful lens on life at sea. Tineke shares how her early struggles with toxic leadership, burnout, and feeling like an outsider shaped her mission to improve psychological safety in th...

Please make sure to like and subscribe to help support the channel. Cheers! Ep 57: Captain Samarth Sinha AKA Captain Sams In this episode, Captain Sams—36-year merchant navy veteran—shares gripping, funny, and deeply insightful stories from life at sea. From navigating war-zone tensions in the Suez Canal to surviving hurricane-force storms with failing steering, Samarth reveals what it really take...

Ep56: Nelson Aspen Today I’m joined by Nelson Aspen—an entertainment reporter turned author and Titanic expert—about his lifelong fascination with maritime history, especially the Titanic. Nelson shares how his career evolved from Hollywood journalism to writing and podcasting, culminating in his successful Titanic Talk  podcast and novel Kindred Spirits . The conversation explores why t...

Please make sure to like and subscribe to help support the channel. Cheers! This episode of  Deck Tales  features veteran mariner Eric Takakjian, who reflects on nearly 50 years at sea across an extraordinary range of vessels—from Coast Guard rescue boats to pioneering deepwater drill-ships and ocean-going tugboats. Eric recounts high-risk, real-world experiences including near capsizes,...

Ep54:Moss Hills This episode of  Deck Tales  follows  Moss Hills , a self-taught musician turned cruise director, whose career at sea includes surviving not one—but two—major maritime disasters. The story centers on the sinking of the  Oceanos , where Moss and the entertainment team were thrust into leadership after the ship lost power during a storm and senior officers abandon...

Ep53:Jenn Sellitti Jenn is a criminal defence attorney and deep-sea shipwreck explorer and leader of Atlantic Wreck Salvage. She shares how her passion for history—not the ocean—pulled her into the world of deep-sea exploration, where she helps uncover and preserve stories hidden within historic shipwrecks. Following the recent loss of her partner and founder of the organisation, Joe Mazraani, Jen...

Ep52: Rod Scher In this episode of  Deck Tales , we are joined by author and historian  Rod Scher  to explore why shipwreck stories still grip us centuries later, to uncover what really causes them to go down—and why it’s almost never just “bad luck.” From the deadly wreck of the  SS Valencia  to the near-total loss of the  Pacific , Rod breaks down how small decision...

In this anonymous interview, “Sarah,” a cruise ship activity host, reveals the unfiltered reality of life working at sea. From exhausting 7-day workweeks and ship politics to shocking behind-the-scenes incidents, she exposes what passengers never see. The conversation dives into crew hierarchy, mental and physical burnout, safety scares, and uncomfortable truths about onboard culture — all while b...

Ep50: Ted Lund In this episode of  Deck Tales , Captain Sammy Catling sits down with veteran captain, journalist, and whale-watching guide  Ted Lund , broadcasting from Juneau, Alaska at the height of whale season. What begins as a conversation about humpback whales quickly expands into a wide-ranging, eye-opening discussion on marine conservation, cruise ship impacts, whale behavior, an...

Ep49:Orel Federman In this episode of  Deck Tales , we sit down with the founder of  Nautical Miles Club , a former seafarer turned entrepreneur on a mission to make life at sea more humane, connected, and appreciated. Sparked by the harsh realities seafarers faced during COVID—being stranded on ships, cut off from families, and largely invisible—the conversation explores how Nautical Mi...

Ep48: Martin Barmby AKA Barney In this episode of Deck Tales, I talk to Barney — a former Royal Navy submariner with 22 years of service — to explore life beneath the waves and the mindset forged by submarines. From growing up immersed in military history to serving on diesel-electric and nuclear boats, Barney shares candid, often hilarious, and deeply human stories about leadership, resilience, a...

Ep47: Belencia Wallace - Full Time Cruise Content Creator In this episode of Deck Tales, Sammy Catling chats with Belencia — better known as Ladybug Travel — a full-time content creator who has spent the past eight months living entirely on cruise ships. Broadcasting live from various corners of a Royal Caribbean ship (including a chapel for peace and quiet), Belencia shares what it’s really like...

Ep46: Richard Jones - Naval Engineer and Author Today I'm speaking with Richard Jones — Royal Navy weapons engineer by day and one of Britain’s most prolific shipwreck and disaster historians by night. Richard shares how a lifelong fascination with maritime disasters turned into nearly three decades of research, 27+ published books, and multiple memorial campaigns honouring forgotten tragedies. Th...

Ep45: Zamira Chevrestt - Volunteer Co-ordinator for In The Same Boat Today I'm joined by Zamira, a volunteer coordinator and sustainability ambassador for the Norwegian environmental NGO In The Same Boat. Zamira shares what it’s really like cleaning marine litter along some of the most remote and unforgiving coastlines in the Arctic and Northern Europe — from freezing North Sea crossings to haulin...

Ep44: Anthony Cummins AKA Captain Tonz Today I'm in talks with Captain Tonz — a real-life pirate with over 65 years at sea — to dismantle everything we think we know about piracy. From surviving rogue waves as a teenager to smuggling camels, outwitting the Royal Navy, and acting as a guardian of the ocean, Captain Tonz shares a life shaped by instinct, equality, and a deep spiritual connection to...

Ep43: Sara Bisset - Marine Mammal Observer (MMO) and Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) operator In this episode of Deck Tales, I'm chatting with Sara Bisset, a Scotland-based seafarer who’s spent the last decade working offshore as a Marine Mammal Observer (MMO) and Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) operator—basically, someone paid to protect whales and dolphins from noisy marine construction and...

Ep42: Rich Napolitano - Shipwrecks & Seadogs Podcast Host In this episode of Deck Tales, we welcome maritime storyteller and podcaster Richard, creator of Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs. From Florida’s stormy skies to centuries-old shipwrecks, Richard shares how a lifelong love of history evolved into a full-time podcast dedicated to maritime disasters, sea legends, and the people caught in between....

Ep41: Lucy Southerton - Former Crew, Now Cruise Content Creator In this episode, we sit down with Lucy, a former cruise ship crew member turned cruise vlogger, who spent nearly a decade working across multiple cruise lines—from spa therapist to retail and brand ambassador—before transitioning to life on land and content creation at sea. Lucy shares the realities of ship life behind the scenes, the...

#40 We round out the end of season 2 with another star from the world of cruise content creation, Mr Gary Bembridge. At the time of recording Gary has been on 124 cruises around the globe, and he has documented pretty much all of them. His mission is to help make it easier for others to book their cruises, by shining an impartial light on what the different lines offer, and objectively weighing up...

My guest today is the wonderful Emma La Teace, or as she is perhaps better known across social media, Emma Cruises. She started her own ship vlogging and blogging journey nearly a decade ago, and a post of hers regarding the charity Mercy Ships caught my attention, so I got in touch to learn more. Alongside raising money for them with the help of a certain Captain Hudson, she has also been busy pr...

A little something different today, as my guest Peter Knego is the first person on DeckTales who has NOT worked on ships. His enthusiasm for them however, has basically meant he's spent more time on ships over the years than some of my previous guests. Peter fell in love with the old ocean liners when he was young, and his obsession for them only grew over time. He was blogging about them before t...

Steve and I worked on a Carnival ship together back in the day, albeit different departments. He wished to remain anonymous for his own reasons, and so used a pseudonym and an on screen avatar for the duration of the call. This is a choice afforded to any guest who comes on the podcast, and if there are people still in the industry who would like to share some stories, then I strongly recommend yo...

Allegra and I worked on the same ship over 15 years ago, and not having seen or spoken with her since like so many of my former colleagues, it was amazing to see and speak with her after so much time. She worked as a solo singer and musician, onboard a ship that many crew members have dubbed as being one of the rowdiest contracts on the seven seas. The Carnival Paradise which at that time ran a 3...